Another Chance
by Mizushipping forever
Summary: Instead of meeting Dumbledore in limbo, Snape was there. Secrets are revealed that change their lives forever. Severitus. Time-travel. AU.


**Another Chance**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

**Summary:** Instead of meeting Dumbledore in limbo, Snape was there. Secrets are revealed that change their lives forever. Severitus. Time-travel. AU.

**A/N:** This story was inspired by a fic called 'The Jedi Change' by AniKenobi. It's not necessary to read it to understand the story, but it's a great read for anyone who likes Star Wars.

**Prologue**

Snape watched as Harry stirred, eyes finally focusing on him. He tried to swallow the painful lump that seemed to have lodged itself in his throat.

Why did all the important revelations have to come when he had no time to enjoy them?

"Professor?"

He winced at the title, but then, the boy didn't know any better.

"Where are we?" Harry's eyes filled with sadness. "He… he killed me." Harry looked away. "Didn't he? How else could you be here?"

"Yes and no, Harry." He sighed, suddenly feeling like he'd aged 100 years in that moment. "You'll find that you're alive enough that you can return if you so desire, but close enough to death that you can move on as well."

"Where… are we? Sir?" He added quickly.

Snape waved it off. "I'd prefer it if you didn't use such formalities, Harry. As for where we are… it's strange, this place… it appears differently to every person. I myself see it as the playground where I met Lily."

Harry nodded then smiled. "Are you two happy here? I assume that you're together now as you should have been before."

"You're not… upset by that?" He gawked at the child. Surely even he couldn't have that big of a heart?

"I was at first." He shrugged. "But then I realized that despite your past indiscretions, you made up for them and didn't deserve to live for so long without your love. To live only to protect your enemy's son with her."

"My enemy's son…" He whispered quietly. 'He doesn't know, Severus.' He chided himself. "Would you still feel that way even if I told you that I was so blinded by my hatred that I didn't even notice that it was _my_ son with her that sat before me? That the child I mercilessly harassed for six years was my own?"

Harry's mouth opened and closed several times. "I… what are you saying, s… uh…" He asked, his throat feeling dry.

"The blood in your veins was never in any small part James's. You, my dear son, are the very real product of mine and Lily's love for each other." He stopped, never having noticed until then that they had been walking as they talked. He turned to his son.

I… I… what?" He asked, looking rather pale.

"I didn't know until I came here." He mused quietly, but loud enough for his son to hear. "I never would have kept it from you had I known. I would have taken you in and damn the person who tried to get in my way. It's ironic, in fate's own cruel way, that it took my death to find out I was a father. That my beloved Lily had been alive the whole time."

"You loved her." Harry said sadly. "And she loved you, too, but she feared for all our lives so she hid it."

He nodded, closing his eyes against the forming tears. "She was so brave, to give up everyone she loved to protect the world. That… is part of why I loved her, her willingness to give up everything so selflessly."

"She's still alive?" Harry finally caught.

"She'll never wake." He ran a hand through his son's messy hair. "Both her charm on you to make you look like James and the spell keeping her comatose were to lift when we finally found out the truth. You only would have found out the truth a little less than a decade from now when your second son was born."

"Really?" He asked dejectedly.

"Really." Then Snape grinned, thinking of his grandson. "He looked like a perfect copy of me, except, thankfully, the nose. He would have had my black eyes, my fingers, my build, my hair… everything. He would even have been in the same house as me."

Harry laughed nervously. "You know, this does kind of explain things. Did you know the sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin?"

Snape gaped at him. "Gryffindor's golden boy really a Slytherin? Man would Minerva have had a fit if she'd known."

Now Harry really laughed. "That's precisely why I never told anyone, not even Ron and Hermione."

Snape snorted. "Why are you taking this so well? I thought you'd hate me after how I treated you."

"Had you told me an hour ago, I probably would have." He said calmly. "How could hate you after seeing your tragic story through your memories, though? To think that all that time I had a father and never knew it…" He sighed. "Did Professor Dumbledore know?"

Snape felt bubbles of betrayal rise in him all over again. "Yes. He was the one that informed me when I died." He saw his own pain and regret for the lost past reflected on Harry's face. "Don't dwell on it Harry. It'll only cause you more pain. I love you and that's what matters."

"Why couldn't he have just told us? After all those times he swore he trusted you with his life, you'd think he'd respect you enough to tell you the truth. He _used_ you." Harry said in anger for his father.

"I think he did what he thought was best." He said, touched by the boy's anger on his behalf. "He told me he didn't realize his mistake until just days before he died when I showed him my patronus, but by then it was too late."

Harry still felt the pain acutely. He stared up at him, the question obvious in his eyes.

"No, you don't _have_ to return." He hugged his son for the first time. "But Harry, you have a life to live. My life is over and someday, I'll be reunited with your mother. Be happy, son. Live a long happy life with Ginny and your future children. One day, when the time is right, we'll meet again."

Harry smiled sadly. "I'll miss you, dad. I'll be sure to tell your grandchildren about your bravery and love. Be at peace, dad."

They both watched each other as they both faded.

-0-0-0-0-

End Notes (about Harry's quick acceptance of Snape): Harry never had a father for as long as he can remember. I imagine that he would have longed for such a bond, even with Snape.


End file.
